On Saturday, October 2nd, a protest was led by the Women’s March in downtown Dallas in response to Texas Senate Bill 8, also known as the Texas Heartbeat Act. The bill officially became law on Sep. 1st, 2021, and prohibits abortion from the moment a heartbeat is detected. Protests are occurring across the U.S. due to the new abortion law that was made in Texas.
Fox 4 states, “When it comes to abortion, those taking part in the Women’s March believe it should be a choice, even though they said it might be the most difficult choice.” The group marching was seen shouting at a smaller group of individuals who were there with anti-abortion views. “We as women have a right to make a choice. This is our bodies,” a woman in the march can be heard saying.
According to Fox 4, anti-abortion organizer Erin Quinn said, “We are always peaceful protestors because we are a nonviolent group and we love and want to share that message of love with women,” she continued, “and so by shouting at them, that’s not the way you’re going to show them that love and that care they deserve.”
NBC DFW mentions, “Though the law preventing abortion after six weeks was already passed, the Dallas Reproductive Liberation March was one of the hundreds around the nation filled with women, and men, fighting for it to be reversed.”
The Women’s March began protesting about reproductive, civil, and human rights on January 21st, 2017 when Donald Trump took office. The website of Women’s March explains their mission by stating, “The mission of Women’s March is to harness the political power of diverse women and their communities to create transformative social change.” Within the mission statement it mentions the goal they would like to achieve by stating, “We must create a society in which women – including Black women, Indigenous women, poor women, immigrant women, disabled women, Jewish women, Muslim women, Latinx women, Asian and Pacific Islander women, lesbian, bi, queer, and trans women – are free and able to care for and nurture their families, however they are formed, in safe and healthy environments free from structural impediments.”
Within the group of this march, many individuals are holding signs. Some of them read, “keep abortion safe and legal,” “I am a woman, not a womb,” “no uterus, no opinion,” “abortion justice,” and “abortion saves lives.”
Texas Right to Life is an organization that believes in protecting innocent human lives, according to their website. It remains as the oldest anti-abortion organization in Texas, beginning in the 1960’s. “We fight for the rights of the unborn (including the nascent humans created in laboratories), the disabled, the sick, the elderly, and the unloved in a world where the lack of respect for innocent human life has escalated to the point where we are all at risk,” the website mentions. Information on pregnancy assistance, patient advocacy, and education are listed at the top of their website.
According to Houston Public Media, “After Senate Bill 8’s passage, bordering states like Louisiana reported an influx of Texas patients seeking abortions.”
A public opinion survey was done with the Pew Research Center on April 5th through April 11th in 2021. The research center states, “Though abortion is a divisive issue, more than half of U.S. adults take a non-absolutist position, saying that in most – but not all – cases, abortion should be legal (34%) or illegal (26%). Fewer take the position that in all cases abortion should be either legal (25%) or illegal (13%).”
Pew Research Center also divides the survey into different categories like “views on abortion by political party and ideology, 2021.” The survey that was conducted shows that “Conservative Republicans and Republican leaners are far more likely to say abortion should be illegal in all or most cases than to say that it should be legal (78% vs. 22%). Among moderate and liberal Republicans, 59% say abortion should be legal, while 39% say it should be illegal. The vast majority of liberal Democrats and Democratic leaners support legal abortion (89%), as do seven-in-ten conservative and moderate Democrats (72%).”
For more information on this survey, visit www.pewresearch.org
